Hinton Train Collision

Tragedy in Hinton
The Hinton train collision was a railway accident that occurred at 8:40 a.m. on February 8, 1986. There were 23 people killed and 95 others sustained injuries in a collision between a Canadian National (CN) Railway freight train and a VIA Rail Canada passenger train. It was the most lethal Canadian rail disaster since the Dugald accident of 1947. It was surmised that the accident was a result of the crew of the freight train becoming incapacitated, and the resulting investigations revealed serious flaws in CN's employee practices.

Vicinity of the Accident
The accident took place on a stretch of Canadian National Railway's transcontinental main line near the Town of Hinton, west of Edmonton. Nearby towns are Jasper to the west and Edson to the east. Passenger service on the line was provided by VIA Rail Canada. Slightly over half of the 100 mile (160 kilometer) stretch of track between Jasper and Edson was double-tracked, including 11.2 miles (18 kilometers) of trackage from Hargwen siding west to Dalehurst siding. Traffic on this line was controlled with Centralized Traffic Control (CTC).

Additional InformationFollowing an investigation into the issues surrounding the collision, the following reports were issued: